18 years ago, the world of motor racing lost one of its greatest drivers. To mark the occasion, Cam Shaft has created a Lotus that pays homage to the legend.

From 1976 till 2003, Lotus, under the guidance of Giorgio Giugiaro, produced the Esprit and in 1996 (up to 2004) the Esprit V8 became the first and only Lotus with an eight-cylinder engine.Each four cylinders on the left and on the right side are mounted at 90 degrees and fitted into an aluminum frame, with the twin-turbo 3.5-liter engine producing 354hp and 295lb-ft of torque The result was a 0-62mph time of 4.9 seconds and a top speed of 175mph.

 

To mark the anniversary of Ayrton Senna’s passing (May 1, 1994), Kempen-based Cam Shaft has created a one-off Lotus Esprit with the legendry John Player Special 97T livery that adorned the Lotus-Renault the Formula 1 legend won his first F1 title in at Estoril in 1985.Performance upgrades were also made to the car, including an ECU remap and new compressor cooling system, which boosts power to 492hp resulting in a 0-62mph time of 4.3 seconds and a new top speed of 191mph. Renault’s 5-speed gearbox has been replaced by a longer ratio 6-speed Dog-Engagement ‘box, and stopping power has been improved via an AP racing braking system.

source: © carbuzz.com / photo: Cam Shaft